Acts of Vengeance: The Venom of Cobra
by Dalek Prime
Summary: Acts of Vengeance Tie-In. When Aang and the others discover that the Earth King has authorized a fascist military force called Cobra to enforce a new series of brutal laws in Ba-Sing-Se, they soon find themselves faced with an enemy more dangerous than Ozai! Can the Avatar stop Cobra from taking control of the Four Nations, or will the world belong to Cobra Commander?


**_A/N: I don't own avatar: The Last Airbender or G.I Joe. Also, for those who are just coming into this story with no idea what's going on, go back and check out my other story, Acts of Vengeance: Prelude, for context. Another thing you should look out for is the '*' symbol, those will give you context for the other stories of what's going on in the other stories in Acts of Vengeance story line at the end of this chapter. Enjoy!  
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* * *

Chapter One: A Snake in the Garden

"Ugh, are we yet?" Sokka asked in his typical annoyed tone of voice

The other passengers on Appa's back let out either groan at the teen's question or simply rolled their eyes upon hearing his question for now the seventh time now. Normally, a trip to Ba-Sing-Se wouldn't take as long it did now, but a massive sandstorm that had kicked up in the desert forced the group to go around it, adding another three hours to there trip to the Earth Kingdom capital. The extension to this flight wasn't helped by Sokka's constant complaining, which was starting to irritate the rest of the group.

"We're almost there, Sokka" Katara answered, trying to hide the annoyance at her elder brother in her tone "just be patient"

"Does anyone even know why the Earth King asked to see us?" the Water Tribe boy asked the others

Two days ago, the Avatar had received a letter from the Earth King himself requesting an audience with the keeper of the balance regarding what the letter referred to as an 'urgent matter', and while the message didn't go into great detail into what the matter was exactly, but Aang was certain that the king wouldn't call upon the Avatar's aide if wasn't serious. It wasn't just Aang who the ruler of the Earth Kingdom had reached out to, but also Zuko as well. Apparently, the young Fire Lord had also received a correspondence from the Earth King which also requested an immediate audience with him along with the Avatar. Seeing that they were going to the same place, Aang offered his friend a ride on his flying bison to Ba-Sing-Se, to which Zuko happily agreed.

As always, Sokka and the Avatar's lover, Katara, journeyed with Aang as they had done ever since they had found him within that iceberg little over a year ago. Toph had been offered the chance to join the group, but she declined, saying that she wasn't much for politics, besides, she had a metalbendering academy she had teach, and that was almost a full time job at this point for the young girl. As for Zuko, he was also traveling with company of his own. Mai, the Fire Lord's on and off girlfriend, had offered to tag along for the trip, saying that it would be boring at the palace if Zuko wasn't there. However, judging by the hint of green on the dark-haired girl's face, it was evident that she wasn't adapting well to traveling via sky bison.

"How are you holding up, Mai?" Katara inquired

"Fine as I'll ever be" the blade expert replied in her usual sardonic tone before quickly swallowing the bile building in her throat "I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that this thing doesn't come with barf bags"

"I know it's not the most comfortable ride at first, but you'll get to it" Zuko assured his lover before adding "eventually"

"You're lucky that I love you, or I'd push you off this thing for talking me into riding it" Mai commented before looking over to the Avatar "Also, when's the last time you bathed your pet, Aang? I swear I think I've lost my sense of smell at this point-it stinks so bad!"

While the blade expert couldn't see his face, Katara could see the scowl on her boyfriend's expression upon hearing that comment about his beloved pet from where she was sitting. Since the time they had become, Aang and the others had found Mai a bit much at times due to her bluntness and sardonic personality. They knew that her upbringing had made her the way she is and she often apologized if she knew she had taken it to far, but there were other times where she spoke her mind and didn't really think about what anyone else thought, and while her new circle of friends respected her for it, even they sometimes had to admit they needed their space from Mai.

Time and Time again, Katara had tried to interact with Zuko's lover, often with an invitation of going to the spa or just a simple lunch date, but Mai would usually respectfully refuse offer to hang out, saying that 'it simply wasn't her thing'. The one time they did have lunch together, the conversation between the two women was less than ten sentences between them. Aang and Sokka didn't fair much better, mostly getting a simple 'hello' or a little small talk from her before she left the room to allow them to carry on whatever business they had with their boyfriend.

"Eh, you learn to love the stink" Sokka offhandedly mentioned

"And I bathed Appa three days ago" Aang added on, trying to sound polite, but letting some his offense get into his words as he did

"Well you need to use some stronger soap or something, because this thing is-" Mai attempted to point out

"Stop calling Appa a thing!" the Avatar suddenly snapped as he shot the woman a glare

Mai and the rest of the group visibly flinched at that remark from the young monk. Seeing that she had once again pushed the limit with her lover's friends, the blade expert looked away in shame.

"She didn't mean it, Aang" Zuko defended gently, draping his arm around his girlfriend as he did

Aang nodded to his friend in acceptance of his apology before turning back around to continue to steer the sky bison. Mai mentally cursed herself for speaking about the Avatar's bison in that way. She knew that Aang had a special relationship with Appa that made the sky bison be seen as more than just a pet to the Avatar. Mai was about to apologize for herself, but before she could open her mouth to speak, Ba-Sing-Se came into view. Right away, the group could see that there had been drastic changes to the the great Earth Kingdom city since they had last been here.

As they approached the massive city's outer wall they could see what look like massive cannons being placed at certain points along the wall. The group could also see that it wasn't Earth Kingdom soldiers who were installing these new battlements, but men and women who were dressed in dark blue, helmeted uniforms with strange red symbols on their chests that resembled a type of serpent, a Cobra to exact. Some of the soldiers were carrying strange weapons in their hands, some of which were bigger than others. The soldiers temporarily stopped their work on the cannons and glared up at the Avatar and his friends as they flew overhead before returning to work on the cannons.

"Those guys didn't look like Earth Kingdom soldiers" Sokka pointed out

"Very astute" Mai said dryly, earning a grimace from the Water Tribe teen

"What happened here?" Katara wondered "Could these guys be who the Earth King be warning us of?"

"I doubt it" Zuko denied "If they were the enemy, they would've shot us down by now"

"But this doesn't feel right" Aang said to the others "Let's get to the palace and figure this out"

As the group flew further into the city, they saw even more strangely uniformed soldiers marching through the streets of the lower districts. They were also accompanied by what looked like armored tanks, although these tanks were much more well-armored and had heavier weaponry then the Fire Nation tanks had. It wasn't just the machines the Avatar's group were in shock of, but also of what the soldiers were doing to the people within the lower ring district. They watched as the blue suited soldiers burst into people's home and start to viciously drag men, women and children out of their homes, some of which were thrown into the back of the armored vehicles.

"It looks like some kind of raid" Zuko observed

"This isn't right" Katara spoke up, still in shock at the sight below them "we need to do something"

"Katara's right" Aang agreed firmly "we need to go down there"

The rest of the group nodded in agreement. With his friends backing him, the Avatar motioned for Appa to land. As the Sky Bison began to fly down from the sky and toward the ground, the blue suited soldiers stopped their actions and backed up a bit to allow the sky bison to land and allow Aang and the others to dismount from the horned beast, though some of the troops started to clutch their weapons a little tighter as the group approached them.

"Who are you, and what are you doing with these people?" the Avatar demanded

"Why should we answer to you, kid?" one of the soldiers questioned back

"Because he's the Avatar and I'm the Fire Lord" Zuko answered in a stern voice

"You want to ask another stupid question, or are you good?" Sokka furthered

The blue suited troops began to mumble among themselves, though it wasn't out of shock or awe. It was almost as if they didn't take two of the most powerful people in the Four Nations seriously. It was then that the man they were speaking to suddenly raised a fist in the air, instantly silencing his fellow troops, a clear indication that he was one in charge of these men.

"I'll ask again: what is going on here?" Aang repeated in a sharper voice

"Avatar Aang!" a woman called out from the family that had just been removed from they're home "these men claim that my husband is part of terrorist cell!"

"Shut it!" one of the soldiers snapped before backhanding the woman

Acting on instinct alone, Aang and his friends collectively took a battle stance, to which the squad of soldiers raised they're weapons in response. No one made a move, but the rising tension between the two sides could be felt across the street as onlookers gathered to watch as the keeper of the balance and his friends face off with the well-armed troops. However, before a fight could break out, the commander of the squad stepped in a took control of the situation.

"This is a sanctioned raid on a suspected enemy of the state's base of operations. Ordered by the Earth King himself" he informed the group firmly "You hold no jurisdiction here, Avatar"

Despite the commander's words, Aang continued to stand his ground. He clutched his staff tightly as he narrowed his eyes at the men. Sokka and Katara also held their battle stances, refusing to let Aang stand alone. Zuko and Mai also held their ground, but the commander's words seemed to have reached them. Zuko and his lover both knew that there was nothing the group could do in this situation that wouldn't lead to an international incident. Knowing that Aang wouldn't stop, the Fire Lord stood down and approached his friend.

"Aang, there's nothing we can do here" he said "the best we can do for these people right now is to speak with the Earth King directly and get this all straightened out"

"I hate to say it, but I think Zuko's right, Aang" Katara added "Let's go to the palace and see what the king makes of this"

"I'm sorry sir, but it's time for you to leave" the commander spoke up, now raising his weapon

Aang looked back at the woman who had been struck. she was now holding her children close to her as a collective look of fear could be read in just their eyes alone. Every fiber of his being was screaming to aide these people, but sadly Zuko was right, if he or his friends attempted anything, it could lead into an all-out conflict between the Four Nations. So with a heavy heart, the Avatar finally relented.

"We'll see what the Earth King has to say about this" he warned the commander

With that, the group climbed back onto Appa's back and took off, allowing the soldiers to return to their duties. However, the commander of the squad stepped away for a moment and switched on the ear piece in his helmet.

"Sir, the Avatar and the Fire Lord have arrived in Ba-Sing-Se along with their friends as expected" he began "they're en route toward the palace as we speak"

"Excellent news, solider" the voice on the other end of the line hissed gleefully "return to your duties. We shall handle the situation from here"

* * *

The further the group flew over the massive city, the more the Avatar and his friends saw the brutality of the newly employed soldiers throughout each district. Aang refused to look back down at the ground below, knowing full well that if he even so much as glanced down at the city below he would go back down and put himself between the troops and the people they were terrorizing. The only way that he could clear this matter up was if he spoke with the Earth King directly. Katara and the others felt the same way about this clear and present problem, yet they knew that if they attempted to step in again, it would only lead to an international incident. Zuko meanwhile continued to look at the raids in the city streets and mentally thanked Agni that his uncle was currently visiting the Fire Nation at the time and was safe from such attacks.

It wasn't before long that Aang and the others finally reached the Earth King's palace. However, upon seeing the building, it looked more like a military base than it did a home of royalty. Gone were the Earth Kingdom banners that adorned the palace walls, now replaced by banners of the soldiers serpent emblem. Troops marched around the palace's perimeter while large cannons and armored vehicles were placed around the building. Like before, some of the soldiers that were standing at their posts would shoot sharp glares as the sky bison began to descend to the ground below.

As the group dismounted Appa, they saw the Earth King approach them, however, he wasn't alone. Flanking both sides of the ruler of the Earth Kingdom were a pair of red uniformed guards with white Cobra emblems on their chests with metal masks covering their faces. Normally, whenever the Avatar and his friends, the Earth King would greet them with a bright smile, but today, that wasn't the case. As the Earth King and his new guards approached the group, they could see a stoic expression on his face, as if he wasn't pleased by the Avatar's arrival.

"It's good to see you again, King Kuei" Aang said with a respectful bow

"Avatar Aang" the King regarded with a nod "I see that you and Fire Lord Zuko have finally arrived"

"Forgive us your highness, but we-" Katara attempted to say

"I believe I was speaking to the Avatar and the Fire Lord, not to you!" Kuei suddenly interrupted sharply

The Avatar and the others were taken aback by that sudden scolding by the normally easy going king. It wasn't like him to speak to anyone, let alone those who he saw as friends, in such a way. However, rather than try start an argument, the group thought it best to focus on the reason as to why why they summoned, as well as figure who these new soldiers were doing in Ba-Sing-Se and why they were attacking it's citizens.

"Your highness, we're here as you requested in your letter" Aang reminded him "you said it was urgent"

"It is urgent, but it is best that we talk within my palace" the Earth King replied before turning away "Please, follow me"

The Avatar and his friends followed the Earth King into the palace, where they were shocked to discover that the inside of the building had been changed just as drastically as it was on the outside. Any shred of evidence of Earth Kingdom's royal history was replaced by more banner's of the strange serpent insignia the soldiers wore on their uniforms and the relics of the past were instead moved aside of statues and weapons of this seemingly chilling new future that this new regime was bringing in. As the group entered the throne room, instead of the Earth King's royal guard there, more armed guards stood at attention in their place. King Kuei took a seat upon his throne and looked down at the Avatar and his friends with clear and present contempt in his eyes.

"So, who exactly are these guys?" Sokka inquired

"There are my new security force. They are named Cobra" King Kuei answered "several days ago, I was nearly assassinated by an anarchist cell. While they failed to kill me, my attackers escaped into the night without a trace. The attack showed me that my guards were totally ineffective and that I needed a new defense force. Not just for me, but for the entire city. As you know, I can no longer trust the Dai-Lei due to their involvement with Azula's coup. So, I had to find another solution"

"And these guys were it" Mai surmised "Where did you find them anyway? they don't look like they're from any of the Four Nations"

"Because they're not from the Four Nations" the Earth King corrected "The soldiers of Cobra hail from a distant land from beyond our seas. Days after I was attacked, the heads of Cobra arrived in Ba-Sing-Se, offering protection to both myself and my city in exchange for trade between our two country's"

"And who are the people leading this group?" the Avatar questioned

"That would be us" came a voice in response

The group turned their attention toward the source of the new voice and saw a pair of strangely dressed men standing before them. They were twins, both of whom were dressed in blue and white uniforms with large white shirt collars as well as white Cobra emblems on their chests, though the symbol was on different sides of their chests to supposedly tell one from the other.

"These are Tomax and Xamot. They are the heads of Cobra" the king explained "they've been overseeing security operations throughout the city"

"It's a pleasure to meet the Avatar-" Tomax began

"-and his friends" Xamot continued

"In person" They finished together

"Ok, that's really creepy" Sokka mentioned to his sister in a low voice

"If you two are in charge of this new security force, then maybe you can tell us why your having your soldiers dragging Earth Kingdom citizens out of there homes?" Zuko demanded sternly

"Why, we're doing nothing of the sort, Fire Lord Zuko" Tomax replied innocently "The people we are investigating are non-Earth Kingdom citizens"

"They are either former citizens from another nation or natives of the Fire Nation colonies" Xamot furthered

"They're right, Lord Zuko" Kuei added on "The would-be assassins who attacked me were all from an extremist group that wanted my kingdom to beyond the laws of the nations they hailed from. I charged Tomax and Xamot to find and detain any and all conspirators no matter the cost"

"But your tearing apart whole families in doing so" Aang argued "I agree that whoever was responsible for the attack on you should be found and brought to justice, but this isn't the way"

"I will not allow my city to be riddled with foreigners who can't accept my laws, nor will I tolerate these refugee's continue to crowd my city streets" the Earth King responded coldly

"It is our intention-" Tomax began

"-To do everything in our power" Xamot continued

"To make the Earth Kingdom great again!" the twins concluded together

"So, your going to drive out foreigners with the help of foreigners" Mai commented dryly with an eye-roll "I can't find a flaw in that logic"

"But by doing this your doing exact opposite" the Avatar reasoned "This isn't freedom, this is fear"

"I will not stand here and be ridiculed by those who do not follow the ways our culture" Kuei said firmly "I had hoped that the Avatar and the Fire Lord would be willing to assist me in this matter, but its quite clear that neither of you will be of any assistance. So, if you will not be a part of the solution, then I suggest that you leave at once before I deiced that you're part of the problem"

Just then, the guards within the throne room suddenly raised their weapons, making the group tense up in defense in doing so. Aang and the others were totally confused by the Earth King's actions and could look at him in a mix of horror and anger as Kuei looked down at those he once considered friends with a cruel expression on his face.

"Avatar Aang. Fire Lord Zuko" he began darkly "neither you nor your friends are welcome within Ba-Sing-Se any longer. Leave at once, or you shall be arrested and charged as enemies of the state"

"It doesn't have to be like this, your highness" Aang said

"I disagree" Kuei denied harshly "Now leave"

Aang knew that he and the others could take everyone in this room, but just like before, they knew that if they attempted any violent action it would lead to a global crisis. So once again, the Avatar and his team had to begrudgingly stand down and depart, however, this would certainly be the end of this matter. As the group exited the palace, Katara had some rather choice words about the king's decorum with them.

"Can you believe that jerk?!" she exclaimed "and to think we saved his entire kingdom-and this is what he does to it?!"

"I'm with Katara, this isn't right" Aang agreed "we can't just let the Earth King do this to his own people"

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea Aang. Let's go fight the king of one of the most powerful nations in the world because we don't like what he's doing" Mai scoffed "hey, let's start another hundred year war while we're at it"

"Oh, you would wanna just let this happen, considering you were friends with a tyrant in the making!" the water-bender snapped back "seriously, do you even care about these people, or anything, at all"

"I care about being belittled by a water peasant!" the Fire Lord's lover snarled back

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy girls, easy!" Sokka jumped in between the two "we're all a little on edge right now. Let's just get back to the Fire Nation and think of a plan on how to handle this"

"Sokka's right, we can't turn on each other when these people need us" Zuko furthered

The two women stared one another down for several seconds before finally relenting.

"Just stay away from me" Katara warned the other girl

"Yeah, like that's going to be hard" Mai mocked

With that, the Avatar and his climbed aboard Appa and took off, all the while the keeper of the balance tried to mentally figure out what had turned the peace loving Earth King into a ruthless tyrant.

* * *

"The Avatar and his friends are leaving Ba-Sing-Se" Tomax reported to King Kuei after receiving news from one of his troops

"Should we shoot them down?" Xamot questioned

"As much as I'm tempted to blow them out of the sky and be done with it, that's sadly not part of the plan" the Earth King replied in an almost bored tone "Just monitor they path back to the Fire Nation. They're no doubt headed back there to formulate some sort of way to help the refugees"

The Twins nodded in unison before departing from the throne room. Once they were gone, the Earth King let out a long yawn before sprawling out sideways on his throne.

"Ah, it's good to be the king" he said to himself

"Just don't forget who put you on that throne" a sudden voice hissed

The Earth King jumped to his feet upon hearing that voice while the one who had spoken stepped out of the shadows. It was a tall man dressed in a blue uniform and was wearing a helmet with with a reflective face plate hiding the man's true identity. standing at each side of the man were a man and woman who had served under his command for years. Neither he nor comrades hailed from anywhere within the Four Nations, nor did they come from anywhere from this universe for that matter. But had they been known, they would've been feared, for they were the leaders of one of the mightiest terrorist organizations in their world, and at the head of this serpent society was their devious ruler: Cobra Commander.

"I hope you've been enjoying yourself as king" the Commander said venomously

"It's been a such a delight commander, thirty-six bedrooms, forty bathrooms, and, oh my, that princess..." 'Kuei' replied in suddenly different accent while licking his lips "Well...lets just say I like it when she calls me daddy"

"Ugh, your such a pig, Zartan" Cobra Commander's top lieutenant, Baroness, insulted in a disgusted voice

The false Earth King switched off his holographic disguise to reveal his true identity as the mercenary known as Zartan to his superiors.

"I still do not understand why we let the them leave, Commander" Cobra's second in command, Destro, questioned his leader "would it not be better to just to kill them here and now?"

"As always, you fools fail to see the bigger picture" Cobra Commander scolded his subordinates "If we did kill the Avatar and the Fire Lord here and now, it would spark international outrage. And while we currently control Ba-Sing-Se, we still have yet to gain control of the rest of the Earth Kingdom"

"But we have the superior weaponry" Zartan countered "We can crush these primitives with ease!"

"But we lack the numbers to do so" his leader explained "When Mirage sent us to this world _ *****_ , she only brought only finite number of our troops along with us. Enough to take over a city, but not an entire world. Which is why we have to play this smart if we are to win"

"Bah! If that sorceress wanted us to conquer this world, she should've sent our entire army to this backwater world!" Destro criticized

"And don't forget that she replaced us with those fools from another universe to combat the Joes" Baroness continued "I do not trust this so-called 'White Fang' to defeat GI Joe _ *****_ "

"Enough!" Cobra Commander exclaimed furiously "can none of you idiots see the opportunity that we've been given? We have the most advance technology on this world and are now in control of the most powerful city within it! and the best part is that there is no GI Joe to stop us this time!"

"Instead, the only challenge we face now are people who can bend the very elements to their will" the Baroness mentioned

"And how do we take control of the other four nations with such a small force, Commander?" Destro questioned

"I could care less about those savages in the North and South poles" Cobra Commander brushed off "They'll bow before by the time we're finished with our plan. Our main concern is taking control of the Fire Nation. Fortunately, I've taken steps to ensure our control over that country in due time"

"And the Earth King will fully support whoever you put in place of the tragically deceased Fire Lord" the master of disguise answered, now perfectly mimicking King Kuei's voice

"But with Azula now on our earth _ *****_ , who will we have as our puppets?" the Baroness asked "Without his bending, Ozai is useless to us. The people will not follow him again"

"Which is why I believe it's time we do away with the monarchy, so to speak" Cobra Commander answered "I've been in contact with some rather interesting extremists groups who would be eager to accept our help in removing Zuko and his uncle from the throne in exchange for their loyalty to Cobra"

"You wish to replace them with false democratic group that we can manipulate?" Destro gathered before laughing "brilliant! turning democracy into our puppet strings is a stroke of sheer genius, Cobra Commander!"

"I figured that if elected officials can do the same thing legally, then why can't we?" his leader said with a dark chuckle

"God bless capitalism" Zartan commented with a dark smirk

"Now all we have to do is wait until Storm Shadow and the others are finished with their assigned tasks, then this world will be ours!" the head of Cobra proclaimed "COBRAAAAA!"

...

 _ **Notes for Acts of Vengeance**_

 _ **1\. Mirage's plan for the multiverse within this story line is to pit different heroes against different villains throughout the multiverse. You can check out whose fighting who in 'Acts of Vengeance: Prelude' out now!  
**_

 _ **2\. The White Fang from RWBY with be taking on GI JOE in Acts of Vengeance: Blade of The Beast; coming soon!**_

 _ **3\. Azula will be facing off against the Xaiolin Monks in Acts of Vengeance: Inferno; Coming Soon!**_


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